Village community: concept discussion

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Ozwell Wayfarer
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ozwell Wayfarer »

another thought......proper consideration should be given to size and density of housing.

This might be a bit specific but the reason i mention that factor is it strongly influences the design of the structures. Right now I am in the middle of what I would term "medieval urban". The builds are realistic, meaning some of the rooms are a bit cramped and there can be privacy issues due to the close approximation of the houses. Some even share adjoining walls. OK for Roleplayers, but not really for someone who wants to maximize their space utilization and have a quiet place to live and relax.
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Dot Matrix
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Dot Matrix »

Ozwell Wayfarer wrote:another thought......proper consideration should be given to size and density of housing.
This suggests another way in to thinking of the project: How many people make a community viable?

"Viable" can be interpreted in various ways -- socially, practically (as in having the different skills needed to build the place), financially, ...

Community might consist of those that make a home in the place, and those that choose to visit and meet in whatever community hub is developed.

Both have implications for density of development.

I admit to being predisposed to rural densities rather than urban. But both might be possible.

For example, mat mahogany's Stuart gives the impression of a closely built fishing village, with a mix of terraced housing, detached residences and businesses. The greener area beyond (one imagines the area above, on the cliffs) might be for larger homes set in private, landscaped gardens.

As for mixing the landscaping, Paislee's Ruminations comes to mind -- a 2x2 megaregion with each region representing a different season. Personally, I see this particular build/style as more a place to visit and explore (and it is well worth visiting more than once -- it is WIP) than a place to make a home. But others might think differently.

Another option for varying the landscape might be to follow the seasons in time, rather than in space -- something that Winterfell in SL (for example) does rather well. The changes in the seasons can be suggested through varying the Region Windlight settings, changing the terrain textures and swapping out trees (or, more straightforwardly, changing the tree textures). This would help to maintain the visual unity and coherence of the landscape while allowing for variety and development over time.

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Edited to add: Ozwell's 1930's house is what I would call A&C-influenced architecture. The 1930s "modern" style I had in mind is seen in cinemas from that era -- so lots of straight lines with starkly stylised and symmetrical decorative elements.
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Ozwell Wayfarer
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ozwell Wayfarer »

I think 4 people committed to share the costs for a minimum of 1 year no matter what happens would be a great way to get things off the boards. Most of the building could be done offline to save on startup costs.

I did some rough math and if could have 8 residents per sim, minus one for the community area. Then you could have a total capacity for 120 avatars. I think thats optimum for a mega region as its unlikely that all 120 people would be online at once, and thats assuming the estate is full. That does not mean we have to have 8 identikit houses per region of course. Just a rounded average to work with.

Another reason I suggest setting some sims aside to be a permanent season is to save admins the trouble of doing all those texture changes every 3 months, which can be quite labor intensive. Adding snow to every surface that should have snow on it gets old really quickly but my OCD-like nature allows for nothing less :) lol

But if the visual unity of the area is deemed more important, then maybe its work that people feel is necessary...

Its also important to not mash up too many styles. The initial Kitely Welcome center learned that the hard way. if I was choosing, I would maybe go for something sort of turn of the century, so you could incorporate medieval and steampunk/victorian elements, and a bit of modern building and it would gel quite nicely I think.

If you were being really silly, you could even make a city which became more dense and futuristic the closer to the center you get. So medieval farmland on the outskirts, building through victorian and more modern suburbs culminating in a full on steampunk city in the middle.

But I also think to be successful at this point, a project like this needs to shoot for the middle ground, which in my opinion is green, pleasant, spacious houses with a designated parcel of land and light building restrictions. We all have our styles and themes we like, but we need a community that is friendly to the average user first and foremost.

Perhaps the main community sim could be built as a town of sorts, for people wanting to live in that sort of environment, on the understanding that chat privacy is limited. I like dense urban areas but the platform has some drawbacks to building in that style. Chat limitations, default camera angle, privacy and personal media to name just a few.
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Dot Matrix
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Dot Matrix »

Oops, Ozwell and I have been talking at cross-purposes. I was thinking in terms of a 2x2 mega, and Ozwell of a 4x4. I agree there would be breathing space to have different seasons and possibly (related) styles simultaneously in a 4x4.

Thinking about shared costs, an unmetered 4x4 mega would need an Advanced World, costing just shy of 100 USD per month. If shared by four people that would be 25 USD each per month, making a total of 300 USD each for the suggested commitment of one year (i.e. a little more than the cost of a single full region in SL for one month).

If the initial development was shared inworld (and it can be fun that way), to keep start-up costs down perhaps one of the not-so-prolific-builder-type Gold account holders (are there any?) might consider donating 16 regions from their allowance, and the rest of us could reimburse KC for the time inworld of any Regular account holders.
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ozwell Wayfarer »

oh :) well I dont really mind the size. Bigger is more work for sure.

I think 3x3 would be the perfect size actually, but sadly the price plan needs you to jump up to an advanced world to make that possible. I think 4x4 might be scraping it a bit and feel too spread out and 2x2 a tad too small. but 8 residential sims with a community sim in the center is a nice layout.

I suppose what could be done is to take an advanced region, but just use 3x3 for a nice general residential area, then use the remaining sims as those extra "snowy" or "tropical" or :Steampunk goth" type sims or whatever there is demand for.
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Ilan Tochner
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ilan Tochner »

You can, if you want, create a 3x3 Advanced World. You don't have to make it a 4x4.
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ozwell Wayfarer »

Ozwell Wayfarer wrote: I suppose what could be done is to take an advanced region, but just use 3x3 for a nice general residential area, then use the remaining sims as those extra "snowy" or "tropical" or :Steampunk goth" type sims or whatever there is demand for.
that's exactly what I meant by this. So you create the 3x3 as the main area, then use the remaining capacity as standalone themed worlds. It is still possible to do that, right?
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ilan Tochner »

Let's clear the terminology.

Sim=Simulator=World.

A World can be of various sizes, ranging from 1 region to 4x4 (16 regions).

Each World Type has a max World size it supports. The Advanced World type enables you to create Worlds that are 1, 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 regions in size.

So, if you want a 3x3 region fixed-price World, then get an Advanced World and select 3x3 regions as the size when you create it.

Of course you can also set it to a 4x4 and only use 9 of those regions if you want. Just please keep in mind that the prim limit is 100,000 either way and the more complex you make your world the longer it will take to start and the more server resources it will require (= more lag).
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Dot Matrix
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Dot Matrix »

To add to Ilan's comment, when you set up an Advanced World, it is just one, single world. So if you set it up as a 3x3 you don't get any additional standalone single regions.

Speaking from experience, when thinking in terms of size vs. performance, I've found 2x2 megaregions to be the optimum for worlds of a Devokan-type complexity.

Which, I guess, is why I've been more focused on 2x2s than larger megas, and villages rather than towns.
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Re: Village community: concept discussion

Post by Ozwell Wayfarer »

Dot Matrix wrote:To add to Ilan's comment, when you set up an Advanced World, it is just one, single world. So if you set it up as a 3x3 you don't get any additional standalone single regions.
Hmm, well, that takes my idea out the window then :).
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